A Stolen Kiss
by Pokeluv101
Summary: "I will steal back the kiss you stole from me," Gold thought that it was a love note and didn't expect his secret admirer meant that she intended to steal the usb he found. Crystal refused to believe that Gold merely found the secrets of the vigilantes kept in the usb and was determined to keep him telling the police. {Mangaquestshipping/AU}


**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the characters**

* * *

"So what do you think of it?" Gold asked Silver. He didn't know who else to turn to when he discovered the usb drive among the ashes. It was on his mind for a while but he couldn't get his mind off the fire at the museum the previous month. The many heirlooms he saw worried him since they were hidden in the wall and he doubted that they were obtained legally.

When he went to the police with his concern, they took him to another room and he met with a stern looking woman. She calmly told him that she was keeping her family's heirloom at the museum for safekeeping. While he partly believed her, he felt as if there was still something she was keeping from him. So he took the usb, hoping that it had some answers to the origins of the artifacts he saw.

He didn't know what they were really keeping in the museum but, if it caused a fire so large that it destroyed the roof, it was dangerous. Gold knew that Silver was dedicated to his job as an investor but he would use any method necessary to bring people to justice. Unfortunately, Silver had more connection in the underworld than he should and Gold worried about him at times.

"I can't have an opinion on this because I can't open this thing!" Silver slammed his hand on the keyboard. He wasn't a computer expert but he knew that the code protecting the usb was complicated. But judging him from what Gold told him, the usb could be connected to the thieves he was investigating. They had been stealing for years now and he was no closer to capturing them.

"Can I keep this?" Silver asked. "I want to look into this a little more. When I find something or hit a dead end I'll give it back to you. Things like this are better suited for…"

"I found a new place to stay and here's the address!" Gold quickly changed the subject since he knew it made Silver become more solemn. "Green showed it to me. The rent's pretty good and the place's close to work. Really this opportunity is too good to be true but it is. I'm going to check it out soon but if anything comes up you can call me."

"You should be cautious of anything that's too good to be true," Silver muttered. He wished that someone had told him that years before his heart broke.

"You're just looking for any reason to insult your sister's finance." Gold teased and Silver rolled his eyes. He might consider Green much too cold for Blue but the choice was ultimately hers. He stood and gave his best friend an encouraging pat. "Maybe finding the seller will help. There can't be many usb with this design even if it's mass produced."

" _True love's kiss_ ," Silver mumbled the faded words to himself. He doubted there was any meaning to it since the design was so simple. Gold didn't think on it either waved bye to his friend before leaving. There had been a series of robbery in his neighbourhood so he decided to move. Green suggested the place to him and the house looked perfect.

Gold followed the directions Green told him. He had to pass through a park and noticed a boy perched dangerously on a tree branch as he reached out to a pair of birds, one red and the other blue. He ran to stand under the tree since he thought the boy was stuck.

"Hey you okay?" Gold called up to him and he realized his mistake when the boy's body jerked in surprise. He must've startled the boy and made him start to lose his balance. He managed to catch himself on another branch but Gold knew that it would hold the boy's weight for long since it was already starting to break. "Just wait there and I'll get you down."

Gold frantically climbed the tree since he knew that the boy would be hurt by the branches if he fell. The boy didn't answer him and he searched for another branch to jump to instead. Unfortunately, the branch didn't give him time to climb to safety before it broke. Just as he fell, Gold reached him and caught him but his weight made him fall as well.

He held the boy close so he wouldn't be hurt by the branches and only loosened his grip on the boy when he felt the impact of the ground. Gold swore and sat up so he could check on the boy's condition. His body hurt but his first concern was the boy. "You okay little guy?"

"Yeah," He rubbed his head. When he looked up, his eyes widened. "You're the fireman!"

It took a moment for Gold to recognize him but he recognize him as a boy from the orphanage he visited. The boy stood out among the rest since he was so enthusiastic when Gold taught them fire safety. He all but run to the firetruck and Gold smiled at the memory. "It's Emerald, isn't it? What were you doing up there? You should know it's dangerous."

"You remember me!" Emerald's eyes widened with admiration. "I was trying to feed the birds but I couldn't reach them."

Gold couldn't chastise the boy for long since he did much worst when he was a kid. He liked to think he was an active kid but his mother called him a delinquent. He sympathized with Emerald since his intention was pure so he told him to give him the bag of bird feed he had.

He placed a handful into Emerald's hand and gestured for him to sit. Gold whistled a soft tune and the birds started to fly towards him. Still whistling, Gold made a path of seeds to Emerald's hand. They followed the path he made until they were eating out of Emerald's hand.

"Thank you." Emerald beamed a bright smile at him and Gold returned his smile. He had always been good with animals and children since his mother's daycare was full of them. He was glad that he was able to use some of the skills he develop to help Emerald. He made sure Emerald was safe before going to the house Green told him about.

* * *

Crystal opened the door and immediately slammed it shut. She knew that it was rude but the man standing on the other side of the door looked like he just committed a crime due to his slightly tattered clothes. She risked another look through the peephole and found another reason to deny him entry into her home. He was the man she was assigned to steal from, Gold Dallas.

There was no doubt that he had the usb that she was tasked with retrieving. During the fire at the museum three months before, it went missing and they only recently found its location. The usb held information of Platina's heirlooms and their thefts so they were all in danger if someone was able to break through Lyra's coding.

Gold was one of the firemen that responded to the fire and was the one that saved Lyra who was trapped in the basement. He recovered the usb from the ruin of the museum and brought it to the firehouse. They didn't know if any of the data survived but they didn't want to risk anyone recovering it. When Yellow went to claim it at the fire house, they told her someone already claimed it.

Gold knocked again which spurred her into action. There must be a reason he was at her door and she had her suspicion that it was Blue or Platina's doing. If it involved the Berlitz's heirlooms, she would meddle with their personal life. She might've brought Yellow and Red together but Crystal doubted that it would end as well for her as it did them.

"Hello?" Blue answered on the first ring. "Blue speaking."

"Why is Gold Dallas at my door?" Crystal demanded, not bothering to hide her frustration.

"He's going to be your new tenant. You did say you wanted someone to rent your basement and Gold told Green he needed a place to stay. Now we have a way to get more information about where the usb could be and if he knows about us." Blue said cheerfully, as if she was proud of her plan. "Everything will work out, I'm sure of it. You can use the extra cash and someone to watch over Emerald during your missions."

Crystal didn't have time to argue before the front door opened and Emerald came in. He would always follow her home so she decided to adopt him. After a long process she was able to legally call him her son and he was the main reason she wanted to rent out her basement. Her work didn't allow her to stay home often and she wanted someone to watch over him when she couldn't.

And she wouldn't let that person be Gold Dallas.

"You wouldn't guess what happened, Crystal! The fireman saved me and now he's here," Emerald opened the door wider and she clenched her teeth at the sight of Gold behind him. She didn't want to show him her frustration since he looked so excited while he pulled Gold into the house. "I fell but he caught me then he showed me how to feed birds."

Emerald told her about how Gold caught him while he fell from the tree and she had to admit that she was thankful that he saved him. But she couldn't help the distrust she felt towards him. They met before when he taught the children at the orphanage and he had several traits she learned to avoid in men. Furthermore, she couldn't think of him as a reliable caretaker for Emerald.

"Hi, we didn't get a chance to talk earlier today," He smiled for Emerald's sake since he obviously thought highly of Crystal and it wouldn't help to tell him that she slammed the door in his face. He remembered her being at the orphanage but they didn't get the opportunity to speak much. "I'm here about the basement for rent."

"So I'm told." Crystal sighed and debated if she should follow Blue's plan. The one thing that kept her from agreeing to her outrageous plan was Emerald. He was still excitedly telling her about his day but it centered on Gold's daring rescue. He was only showing sign of becoming attached to Gold. Developing dependence on a man was the first step to being hurt by them.

With a gentle push, she urged Emerald to his room. "Go change and get ready for dinner while I talk to Mr. Dallas. Make sure to wash your hands before setting the table."

"He told me that you adopted him and I'm glad he has a family now." Gold said with a smile as he watched Emerald run up the stairs. He could tell Crystal had some distrust towards him so tried to make her more comfortable. "He was following you like a baby duck with his mother when I visited the orphanage. It's going to be fun living here if he's here too."

"I haven't said that you can rent out the basement yet." Crystal stated. "There are some things-"

"Here's my criminal record and referrals," Gold took out several documents from his bag. He was surprise at the amount Green suggested he bring but now he understood that Crystal was a very cautious and private person. He would be cautious as well since she had a young child living with her.

"Green said that I might need all these to convince you. I'm just looking or a place closer to work and this place looks perfect. I can pay rent and look after Emerald any time you need." Crystal looked over everything he handed her carefully as he continued to list more reasons for him to stay. She sighed since she couldn't find any reason to go against Blue and Platina's plan.

"Okay, you can stay in basement. I should have the lease contract for you to sign tomorrow and you can give me the deposit then. Until we discuss the details tomorrow, you can sleep in the basement and have dinner with us. But there's one issue I want to discuss now."

"Shot," Gold said with a shrug.

"Be careful not to let Emerald get attached to you." Crystal's voice was stern but he heard a tinge of sadness in it. "I want you two to get along but I don't want him to get any false hope about you and become hurt when you leave. He's still a child so he might get the wrong idea and start to see you as a father figure. I doubt you want that even if Emerald is a bright kid."

Gold didn't know how to respond since he hadn't been expecting her to warn him about getting close to Emerald. He thought that most women would want their kid to have a father figure even if he wasn't the biological father. Green warned him that she would have trouble trusting him and he wondered how she was with other men. "I won't hurt him, Crys."

 _But you will when you leave_ , Crystal thought sadly to herself. She watched her father leave her mother when he found another woman. Later, she saw how a man broke her sister's heart when her fiancé leave her. The only love that didn't end in heart break was that of family and friends.

She didn't want Emerald to be hurt and she didn't think that she would be in danger of falling into the trap of love.

* * *

"You're going to live with us?" Emerald's eyes sparkled at the prospect of a fireman living with him. He liked Gold since he didn't treat him like a kid and played with him. He wanted to be a fireman ever since Gold told him about his work the day they first met. He hadn't told Crystal yet since he wanted to become stronger before doing so.

"Yup!" Gold looked to see Crystal's reaction to his word but she kept her eyes on her the bowl in front of her. Emerald demanded his attention again and spoke excitedly. Gold smiled, "Chew your food before you chock buddy. I'm excited to live with you too."

"I can't wait to tell everyone that I have a real hero living with me!" Emerald said excitedly. "I have a soccer game soon. Can you come so I can introduce you them? They'll be so jealous that I have the coolest person living with us. You can lift a building and walk through fire and talk to animals."

Crystal threw him a look between confusion and a glare. He laughed shakily as he remembered all of the tall tales he told the children at the orphanage. He regretted them now since they wouldn't help change Crystal's opinion of him. She calmly told Emerald, "You shouldn't bother Mr. Dallas since he must have a job. But I'm sure we'll have fun without him."

"It's no bother," Gold said quickly. If he was going to live with them, he wanted to get along with the pair. "And you can both call me Gold. My schedule's pretty flexible so if you need me to do anything, just ask. I might be a simple fireman but I can teach you a lot of things about sports and animals. Actually I can teach you my signature kick for your game!"

"Crystal is already helping with soccer," Emerald told him and Gold could hear the pride in his voice. Crystal couldn't help but smile and she gently stroked Emerald's hair. She hoped that he would grow to be a better man than the ones she knew now. "But you can teach me about animals. How did you learn to talk to the birds?"

"My mom owned a daycare that took cares of kids and animals so I've lived surrounded by people and animal." Gold told him. He found that he could fall into comfortable conversation with Emerald easily but winning over his mother was another issue entirely. He wondered why she was so against him becoming her tenant since he had given her no reason to hate him.

"Being a fireman must be so cool." Emerald's eyes sparkled and Crystal worried all the more that he might start to hero worship Gold. He was a charming kid so Gold found him endearing so listen intently. "There was a fire at the museum Crystal worked at but firemen saved her!"

Gold's hand stopped for a moment when he thought back to the fire. He was a part of the team that respond and he distinctly remembered having to stop a woman from running back into the fire. She told him about her sister trapped in the basement. He saved her sister but also found the treasures in the large safe. If it wasn't for her he wouldn't have found the usb.

He didn't think too much of the woman at the time since he was focused on saving her sister. Gold wondered about the sister since she disappeared immediately after he saved. She obviously had a connection to the heirlooms since she was in the basement. He had no way to find her again and thought of asking Crystal since she worked at the museum.

He knew he would have to wait to ask her since he didn't want to discuss the issue with Emerald present. Then again he didn't know if he could ask Crystal since she would mostly likely tell him to leave the issue to the police. A logical person would've done that but he doubted they would find the truth like he could. He might only be a fireman but he had several connections that could help him solve the mystery.

He shouldn't be proud of the skills he developed during his rebellious stage but he could fend for himself and protect his friends. Most of the trouble he got into was due to his friendly rivalry with Silver and throughout all of their fights they became close friends. He never thought they would go on another adventure like in their youth but there was much more at stake now.

"You have school tomorrow and I need to leave for work early so you should finish your dinner before it gets cold." Crystal stood and took her bowl since she already finished. Gold quickly stood to help her clean the dishes from the table.

"Let me help you!" Gold took one of the plats from the table and she relented since she didn't want to argue with Gold in front of Emerald. She nodded and led him to the kitchen. Crystal knew that she would have to show him around her house but she would be lying if she said that she looked forward to it. "You know I haven't seen you smile yet and I'm sure you'll be more beautiful if you did."

Crystal's shoulders tensed and she turned sharply to shot a quip at hi but found that she didn't know how to respond to his words. She never had trouble with a man before and she hated to think that gold was affecting her so much. She stopped so suddenly to yell at him that Gold crashed into her.

They both made a grab for the dirty plates they dropped and luckily they were able to save the plates but they were now covered in food. Crystal was about to yell at him but surprisingly Gold burst out laughing. He took the plates and put them away even though he continued to laugh. "That was quite a scene wasn't it? We make a good team saving these dishes."

"Does anything faze you? You keep getting messier the longer you're around this family," Crystal found herself chuckling along with him. He didn't bother to clean himself, saying that he would take a shower later. He just turned to wash the dishes and she wonder if he would continue to confuse her.

"Look at you, it's like I have to take care of two kids. You need to wipe that before it stains." She took a napkin and began to wipe the food stains on his shirt. He was surprised that her touch was gentle since she was so confrontational earlier. He found herself studying her face and thought there was something familiar about her now.

Crystal knew that fireman had to be strong but she was surprised at the strength she felt beneath his shirt. She immediately forced herself to push the thought from her mind. He was her next victim so she couldn't afford to think of him as anything more.

She started to pull away and their eyes met for a moment. Recognition sparked in his mind once he could see her light blue eyes clearly. She was the woman that tried to run into the fire to save her sister.

* * *

Gold couldn't get the image of Crystal's eyes out of him mind since they were so similar to the woman's he met the day of the fire. He only met her briefly so he couldn't be sure but his gut told him that they were one in the same. But there were so many other things he wondered as well. Where was the sister he saved? Did Crystal know about the heirlooms in the basement?

He didn't want to think badly of Crystal. Even though they didn't get off on the right feet, he didn't sense any ill intent from her and Emerald obvious loved her. If she was involved in any criminal activity, he would be left without a family so Gold needed to consider involving Crystal carefully.

"I'm going to drive myself crazy thinking about this!" Gold groaned and left the bathroom. Crystal showed him the basement and was surprised that it was already well furnished. She also made it a point to tell him that he had his own bathroom and would have no reason to go upstairs.

"Gold!" Someone called from the stairs and he recognized that it was Emerald quickly. He was running down the stairs, holding a large package. Gold met him at the bottom of the stairs and Emerald held out the package to him. "This lady came to give you this package. She said you'll know who she is once you open the package."

Gold wondered who would send him a package since the only two people that knew about him renting the basement was Silver and Green. While he had his shares of women, he never developed a lasting relationship with any of them.

"Thanks little guy," Gold patted Emerald on his head in thanks and opened the package. Emerald was curious about what was in it as well so tried to look into the box. They were both confused and shocked to find it empty except for one note.

 _I will steal back the kiss you stole from me_. The font was the same as the one on the usb he took and he hated to think that the note was referring to it. The conclusion was a stretch since no one knew that he had the usb. But if it was the case, he was glad that he gave the usb to Silver for safekeeping.

"How do you steal back a kiss?" Emerald asked innocently over his shoulder and Gold worried all the more. He needed to find who sent him the letter before the sender try to break into the house and put Emerald and Crystal in danger.

* * *

 **Why is it that I make concepts I have no ability to complete? I think I'm going to discontinue my Stolen Series since it's going nowhere. I find that I can't write contemporary mystery since I discontinued my Seasons Series too -.- I didn't want my idea to go to waste so I'm posting the first chapter since I really did like it.**


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